Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings are up 20% year over year, with Arkansas leading the nation. Hunter Biram, Ryan Loy and LSU's Mike Deliberto break down where filings are concentrated, why rising input costs have eaten into recent crop price gains, and what the new farm bill's higher rice reference price means for Delta producers facing payment limitations.

This week on Morning Coffee and Ag Markets, Hunter Biram visits with Arkansas Agricultural Hall of Fame inductee Carl Brothers about the history of rice marketing assistance loans, world market price calculations, and the growing possibility of loan deficiency payments (LDPs). Drawing on more than 50 years in the rice industry, Brothers explains how rice policy has evolved, why global competitiveness matters, and what current market conditions could mean for rice producers.

Hunter Biram is joined by Enil Serrano and Grant Gardner to discuss the Crop Insurance Decision Maker, a web-based tool developed by the University of Arkansas and University of Kentucky that evaluates expected net returns across different crop insurance and farm program scenarios. They walk through key findings on how a farm's yield relative to the county average shapes the optimal coverage level, and why skipping crop insurance altogether is rarely the right call.

USDA's new Expanding Access to Risk Protection (EARP) rule eliminates the option for producers to purchase an additional 5 percentage points of prevented planting coverage. In this episode, Hunter Biram and Ryan Loy discuss what this change means for rice producers, how it affects flexibility within crop insurance decisions, and why Arkansas farmers may be particularly impacted given their reliance on prevented planting coverage. The conversation also explores trends in rice insurance participation, adjustment capacity, and potential implications for future risk management decisions.

This week’s Morning Coffee and Ag Markets Podcast revisits a 2025 episode on prevented planting decisions for Arkansas rice producers as the 2026 final planting date arrives. Hunter Biram and Ryan Loy discuss when prevented planting may be financially preferable to planting using simulated yield and price scenarios. While commodity prices referenced in the original episode have changed, the core concepts and risk management considerations remain relevant, including the role of pre-plant costs, expected returns, and second-crop soybean opportunities.

Hunter Biram is joined by Scott Stiles to discuss the May 2026 WASDE report and what it could mean for Arkansas producers. The conversation covers tightening grain stocks, stronger price outlooks for soybeans, rice, and cotton, and how changing input costs and drought conditions are shaping acreage decisions heading into summer. They also discuss seasonal price trends, marketing strategies, storage considerations, and why proactive risk management may be especially important this year.

Arkansas soybeans have shaped the state’s agricultural landscape for the last century, growing from a rotational crop in the 1920s into Arkansas’s leading row crop today. In this episode of Morning Coffee and Ag Markets, Hunter Biram is joined by Brad Doyle, Doug Hartz, and Jeremy Ross to reflect on 100 years of Arkansas soybean production. The conversation explores the history of soybeans in the state, major technological advancements in production, how Arkansas farmers became leaders in soybean yields, and what the future may hold for the industry through new technologies, genetics, and market opportunities.

Ryan Loy and Hunter Biram discuss the 2026 Arkansas net farm income outlook. While income is projected to remain steady, it is largely supported by increased government assistance as crop receipts decline and production costs rise. The conversation also highlights major acreage shifts, including a sharp reduction in rice and movement into soybeans, and what these trends may signal moving forward.